“No. You have never abused me. You haven’t always been honest with me, either.”
“There are things that you cannot know, Fezarn.”
“Such as what?”
Azithan turned to him, frowning. “I can only protect you so much. There are limits to what I can do.”
“So it seems. What would have happened to me had you not returned?”
“I suspect Elizabeth would have used the fact that you attacked her in Vayan as a reason to eliminate you. Seeing as how she thought that I was missing, and she made an attempt on someone she thought would impact my abilities to be safe in the city, you would likely be considered expendable.”
“What if she wouldn’t have been able to get to me?”
“You are capable, Fezarn, but you are not so capable that you would be able to withstand an attack from a fire mage like Elizabeth.”
“What is Carter up to?” Fes asked.
“Unfortunately, I’m not completely aware of what she might be after,” Azithan said.
“Whatever it is, she intends to pull me out of the city. Are you aware of that?”
“It might be safest for you to go,” Azithan said.
“Safest?”
Azithan’s gaze drifted to the door. “If you have gained Elizabeth’s notice, then it might be best if you leave the city. As I said, I doubt that I can protect you as much as you might need.”
Fes gripped his dagger. “I’m not completely without abilities of my own.”
Azithan shook his head. “I’m well aware of that, Fezarn. All I am saying is that if she has decided to focus her attention on you, and if she has somehow manipulated the emperor to pay attention to you, then there may be ways that you will be in danger that even I cannot anticipate.”
“I thought you said she wasn’t capable.”
“No. What I said is that she lacks experience. She is cunning, and because of that, it makes her dangerous.”
“The golem makes her dangerous,” Fes said. “It’s everything else…”
He didn’t think Azithan needed to know that he didn’t fear her fire magic. It wasn’t that he wasn’t concerned about the fact that she could overpower him—he was—but at least with her fire magic, he stood a chance. He had never felt quite as helpless as he had against the golem.
“I will see what I can do about that creature,” Azithan said.
“How do you stop a golem?”
“The dragons were creatures born of fire. Because of that, they carried with them a particular magic that we only know through the use of dragon relics. The golems are similar, only they are made of stone and draw strength from it. A strong enough blow can shatter stone, Fezarn.”
“I wasn’t able to shatter anything when I faced the golem.”
“I imagine that you do not have the necessary strength to stop a golem.”
“And what can?”
“Only something stronger.”
Azithan turned his attention back to the hearth, staring at the flames. Heat began to build from him, but it wasn’t focused at Fes, not the way it was earlier. This heat seemed to be turned inward, as if he were keeping it angled toward the hearth itself.
Fes cast another look around the room. Azithan would say nothing else, which meant that it was time to go.
“What would Carter be after?” Fes asked.
“This time, Fezarn, I am not in the know. I would warn you that whatever it is that draws her away from the city has the potential to be dangerous.”
Fes hesitated before leaving. He pulled the length of dragon bone he’d taken from Elizabeth from his pocket and set it on a table near the door. Azithan watched him, saying nothing.
“Goodbye, Azithan,” he said.
Chapter Seven
When morning came, Fes hadn’t slept at all. He was tired, his mind was racing, and he dreaded the idea of getting back on the road, having hated the last time he’d ventured from the city. He didn’t care for the journey, he didn’t care for sitting on a horse as it galloped across the land, and he didn’t care for nights spent under the stars or searching for sporadic villages in which they could stop and stay in. He preferred the comfort of his own bed and he hated that he was being sent off again.
Dreams had plagued him. They were familiar dreams, though ones he hadn’t had for many years. In them, he saw his brother’s face, and the look in his eyes when Fes had tried to stop the man—no more than a common thief—from driving a knife into his brother’s side.
The rage had come that day. Hot and blinding, he’d cut the man down, ripping out his throat. Then Horus had found him.
He’d failed Benjan. When they’d lost their parents, he had promised his brother that he would protect him, but he’d failed. And since then, he’d been careful not to make other promises he couldn’t keep.
But he’d promised Indra.
And now she had lost family. Now she needed help.
How could he not?
For Indra, he was willing to do whatever it took.
Fes meandered through the city and eventually reached Carter’s home. Before he even had a chance to knock, the door opened, and one of the mercenaries working with her poked his head out the door.
“Carter asked that you meet her near the Great Market.”
Fes frowned. The Great Market? Why would Carter have him meet her there? Could she have known that was where he had met Indra and her father originally?
He started off and made his way through the city. At this time of the morning, there wasn’t much activity taking place. All of the chaos from the late afternoon and evening before had died down. Some people were out—occasional merchants pushing wagons through the streets, carriers carrying packs, and farmers who brought in their vegetables and fruits from the surrounding communities, bringing them to the central market.
Unencumbered, Fes was able to reach the Great Market quickly. When he arrived, he found more activity than in the rest of the city, but then, the Great Market always had activity. It never shuttered, going all night long with trade and vendors trying to maximize their profits during the short time they stayed. Some vendors managed to move everything they brought within a few short days and disappeared, while others—people like Theole—would remain for weeks, the items they had for trade and sale much less marketable.
Where would he find Carter?
He needn’t have worried.
She waited for him at the edge of the Great Market. She watched him approach with a slight smile on her face. Indra stood off to the side, not attempting to run. Then again, if she were to attempt to run, where would she go? There wasn’t any way she would be able to get home safely. Not without someone able to escort her. That was the reason that she needed Fes.
“Why here?” Fes asked.
“Fezarn. I thought you might greet me more warmly than this.”
“Why here?”
“We are waiting for the remainder of our travel companions.”
“I thought you said it was only the three of us.”
Carter frowned. “Is that what I said? I don’t recall claiming that it would just be the three of us. I only told you that you would need to accompany us.”
“And you still haven’t said why you wanted me to come along. After what happened the last time…”
Carter glared at him. “It’s about more than me coming along.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You aren’t meant to. You are here to help escort your young friend—and myself—across the border. From there, then you might be able to understand what it is that we are doing.”
“My priority is to Indra.”
“I don’t care who your priority is to, only that you do the job that you have agreed to.” She met his gaze. “And before we go, I intend to have a promise from you.”
Fes tensed. She said it so casually, so nonchalantly, but there was no mistaking the intent. She knew what she was asking.
Fes didn’t take a promise lightly. He ne
ver had. So that when he did make one, he made certain that he followed through.
“What kind of promise?”
“The promise that you will ensure I reach Toulen safely.”
“I can’t help it if you make some foolish mistake that gets you killed.”
“That wasn’t a promise.”
“As I said, I will ensure that Indra makes it safely, and I will do my best to ensure your safety, but if you do something stupid, your death will be on you.”
“And then you will not see your money. You are here for both of us.”
Fes stepped up to Carter. She was shorter than him by nearly a head, and he had to look down at her, but somehow she managed to make the height negligible. “If you attempt to betray me, if you attempt to take what you have promised, I assure you that I will do everything in my not inconsiderable power to see that you are destroyed.”
Carter looked up at him, smiling. There was a dangerous beauty to the smile, and Fes wanted only to look away, but he forced himself to maintain a connection. It wouldn’t do to look away from Carter, not when she was threatening him like this.
“See? What did I tell you? He is the right one to accompany us.”
Fes turned, thinking that Carter might be talking to Indra, and froze.
Elizabeth, the fire mage, stood behind him.
“What is this?” Fes asked.
“This is our traveling companion,” Carter said.
“No.”
“I’m afraid that you don’t get to choose who accompanies us,” Carter said.
“No,” Fes said again.
Carter looked over at Indra. “It would be a shame if you decided not to come. Who would ensure the safety of your young friend if you weren’t here? All I want is to make certain we reach Toulen, but if you aren’t here, I don’t know that I will be nearly as successful at it.”
Fes swallowed. His mouth was suddenly dry.
Had Azithan known?
He doubted that he did, which made Fes even more uncomfortable. This fire mage was trouble—that much he knew—but why?
Somehow, Fes had managed to get caught up more deeply in the emperor’s plotting. As much as he had managed to avoid it over the years, even though he had served Azithan, now he would get twisted up in it.
“I’m well aware of his unique skill set,” Elizabeth said.
Carter turned to Fes and smiled widely. “Yes. I have heard that you have some experience with him. I find that interesting. Fes, did Azithan send you to attack Elizabeth?”
“Why is she coming?” Fes asked.
“She,” the fire mage said, “is coming because she is the one who hired Carter. Apparently, Carter believed another would be necessary to help ensure the success of this job.” Irritation practically dripped from her voice.
Fes glanced from Carter to the fire mage. There was more taking place here than he realized. There was a tight frown on her face, a hint of wrinkles around the corners of her eyes, and there was no missing the way her hand stayed close to the sword sheathed at her side.
Somehow, Carter was involved over her head, and she had brought in Fes, thinking to protect herself. That idea intrigued him.
Maybe it was more about Fes keeping Carter safe than Indra.
“Are we expecting anyone else?” Fes asked.
“This is it. Elizabeth would not allow anyone else to accompany us,” Carter said.
“Just the four of us?” Fes asked.
“It would have been three, but Carter demanded a fourth,” Elizabeth said.
At last Fes thought he understood why it was that Carter had such wealth. It wasn’t that Azithan paid poorly—far from it—but the amount of gold that would’ve been required for her to finance that place in the city would have been beyond what Azithan normally was willing to pay. Seeing how close Elizabeth had been to the emperor… that was even more than Azithan.
“Lucky me,” Fes said.
The fire mage looked at him. “Yes. Lucky you.”
Fes ignored the fire mage. It seemed the safest bet. He turned his attention to Carter. “Do you intend for us to walk?”
“Not walk, but I thought that we could travel with others for the first part of the journey.”
Fes clenched his jaw and looked around at the wagons. He had no intention of traveling with merchants. Not again, not after what Carter had done the last time.
“No,” Fes said.
“When did you begin to think that you had a choice in this?” Carter asked him.
“I have enough choice to know that I can choose whether or not I even go with you.”
Carter’s gaze drifted down to Indra. She’d remained silent through all of this, the kind of worried expression in her eyes that reminded him all too much of his brother. “Is that right? I thought you made a promise to her father.”
Fes clenched his jaw again. She knew.
That was the reason she had come for him. She knew that he would comply, if not for the money then because of what he had committed to Theole.
“We are not ambushing another merchant caravan,” Fes said. “We don’t need to.”
“Who said anything about needing to do anything?” Carter asked. “Sometimes, we do things because they are fun.”
Fes took a deep breath. Her definition of fun meant tormenting him. He was certain of that. They stepped outside the Great Market. A small merchant caravan had already formed up. Carter went to the head of the caravan and spoke to the man leading them. She tilted her hips in a particular way and thrust her chest out, drawing his gaze.
Fes didn’t have the same ability to attract attention that Carter did, but if he did, he wasn’t sure that he would use it.
“I can see that you don’t care for her,” Elizabeth said.
“I would be comfortable seeing her dead,” Fes admitted.
“Then why has she requested your presence on this journey?”
Fes turned to her. The fire mage was dressed in a long cloak that covered her thin frame. The hood settled around her shoulders, pooling with her hair, and she stared at Fes, her gaze burning into him. He waited for power to build, but it never came.
“I imagine she requested my presence because she’s afraid of what you might do.” He looked around, trying to peer back into the Great Market, but from the outskirts of it, there was no way to see beyond the first row of tents. “Where is your friend?”
The fire mage studied him for a moment. “Do you fear his presence?”
Fes’s heart skipped a beat. He didn’t want her to know that he was afraid of the golem, but having the fire mage traveling with him might protect him in some ways, at least.
“I just expected to see him again.”
“He can be summoned when necessary,” she said. She leaned close enough that he could practically smell the heat coming off of her. “Where is the item?”
Fes was thankful he’d left the length of bone behind. Why was that one more precious to her than others? “You’ll have to ask Azithan.”
Elizabeth practically growled and watched Fes for a moment before striding past him and joining Carter to talk to the head of the merchant wagon.
Fes turned to Indra. “Did she hurt you?”
Indra flicked her gaze at the others but said nothing. “I’m sorry you were pulled into this.”
“I’m sorry that you were. You should have been home long ago.”
Indra took a breath, and it caught for a moment. “All I want is to return home. She won’t let me. Not without coming with me.”
“I don’t know that you could return home on your own,” Fes said.
“I don’t need someone to accompany me. I know how to reach Toulen.”
“The way would be dangerous,” Fes said.
“Are you with her now?”
He sighed, keeping Carter in sight. He didn’t want her to return before he had a chance to speak to Indra. “I’m with her as long as I need to be in order to keep you safe. I’m not certain it’s Carter th
at we need to worry about.”
“You fear the fire mage? I thought you had some way of—”
Fes raised his hand slightly, trying to silence her before she said it. “I have some capability,” he began, “but I have encountered that one before. She is dangerous.”
Indra stared at Elizabeth. “She doesn’t feel dangerous.”
“You can feel how dangerous a fire mage is?”
“There is energy around the fire mages. I can feel it. It’s the same way that I feel the energy around you,” she said.
Fes looked down at her. “And what kind of energy is that?”
“The kind that told my father that he could trust you.”
He wondered how much Theole knew about him. It seemed that more and more people knew things about him that he didn’t know about himself. Not only had Theole known something, but the priest and others also had as well. When would there be a time when Fes would begin to know himself the same way that others did?
“Just be careful around the fire mage,” Fes said. “When I confronted her the last time, she had a powerful ally.”
Indra looked up at him, meeting his gaze. “I have a powerful ally too.”
Carter and Elizabeth rejoined them before Indra had a chance to elaborate. Carter had a dark glare to her. “It looks like you will be getting your way,” she said.
“Why is that?”
“The merchants won’t allow anyone to travel with them. Apparently, there have been rumors that it’s not safe to travel with outsiders.”
“I wonder why that would be,” Fes said.
Carter shot him a hard glare. “We will need to procure horses.”
“That won’t be difficult,” the fire mage said. She reached into her pocket and plucked something out. She brought it to her mouth and blew on it. As she did, a strange heat radiated from her.
“What was that?”
“A message,” she said.
Fes watched as Elizabeth took whatever item it was and stuffed it back into her pocket. They waited but didn’t have to wait long. Soon there came the sound of horses thundering toward them, making their way along the row of tents. Fes looked up and realized that the golem was guiding horses toward them.
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